Adding a forum for advice to new believers

[Miraak]

A lot of believers I've seen up on Reddit tend to get confused on what they should be doing to practice their faith.

Anyways, I was hoping this website could setup a forum where Christians can put advice for new believers.

 

[Lynx]

Howdy and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately any such "Advice To New Christians" forum would soon become a hotbed of argument. You get a lot of different opinions on this forum about just any question you try to ask.

But yeah... it WOULD be nice if we could have something like that.

 

[ZNP]

A lot of believers I've seen up on Reddit tend to get confused on what they should be doing to practice their faith.

Anyways, I was hoping this website could setup a forum where Christians can put advice for new believers.

Learning how to catch men (part 1)

5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

At first I am wondering what did Jesus teach the people, Luke doesn't tell us that. This story is not about what Jesus taught the people, instead this story is about Jesus teaching Peter, James and John how to catch men.

Compare what happens in this story with what happens when three thousand are saved at Pentecost.

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

They were all with one accord refers to all the disciples of the Lord.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Everyone in the meeting was speaking the word, not just a single gospel preacher.

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

These men are the fish. When Jesus was on the boat speaking with the multitude those were the disciples, the followers of Jesus. The fish in the lake realized something weird is going on, they had never seen a big church meeting before and so all the fish gathered to see what is going on. Curiosity, God created man to be curious about God and the word of God. We are skeptical of click bait and all the various lures that marketers use. But there was no marketing for this event, it was "noised abroad", that is word of mouth, when people could see something strange going on. People all gathered wondering what was going on.

12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Do not jump the gun, these ones nibbling at the event saying what meaneth this, that is too soon. Wait for the mockers. As soon as they make a joke that is the time to set the hook.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

Peter has prepared for this moment and now he lets down the net.

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

Everyone wants to hear about a prophesy being fulfilled.

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Everyone wants to experience God pouring out His Spirit on them.

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Everyone wants to see all these great signs.

 

[ZNP]

Learning how to catch men (part 2)

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:

Now the net is closing in, we are witnessing the signs and wonders that take place right before the great and notable day of the Lord comes. So we are not only explaining what we have seen and what we are seeing but we are about to see. Now you are caught, you have to find out what is about to happen.

21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

All that call on the name shall be saved, those that don't won't! That is a great conclusion! He is just starting the message but opens with the key point.

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

But now you need to hit them with their sin. Don't give them a chance to scoff and say, I haven't done anything wrong, I have nothing to worry about.

24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Convict them of sin followed by the good news of the resurrected Christ giving us a way to salvation. These are devout men, they know this Psalm. You are not some weird cult, you are opening the Bible up to them.

29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

At first he can't speak freely because they are skeptical. Something weird attracted their attention, but just because it is weird doesn't mean they want anything to do with it. He has to show them that what they are seeing is what the Bible and the Patriarchs told them they would see.

30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

The resurrection is not some weird new doctrine, it is straight from the Bible.

32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

And all these people you thought were acting weird, they are witnesses of the resurrected Jesus.

33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

He starts with saying whoever will call on the Lord shall be saved, then leads us to the conclusion which is that Jesus Christ is Lord and Christ. They discover that they killed their Messiah, but then they also learn that He has been victorious over the grave, rising from the dead, and that the Bible prophesied that this would be the case.

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

That is how you preach the gospel.

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

That is how you receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

That is how you catch men.

 

[Standard]

Learning how to catch men (part 1)

5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

At first I am wondering what did Jesus teach the people, Luke doesn't tell us that. This story is not about what Jesus taught the people, instead this story is about Jesus teaching Peter, James and John how to catch men.

Compare what happens in this story with what happens when three thousand are saved at Pentecost.

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

They were all with one accord refers to all the disciples of the Lord.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Everyone in the meeting was speaking the word, not just a single gospel preacher.

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

These men are the fish. When Jesus was on the boat speaking with the multitude those were the disciples, the followers of Jesus. The fish in the lake realized something weird is going on, they had never seen a big church meeting before and so all the fish gathered to see what is going on. Curiosity, God created man to be curious about God and the word of God. We are skeptical of click bait and all the various lures that marketers use. But there was no marketing for this event, it was "noised abroad", that is word of mouth, when people could see something strange going on. People all gathered wondering what was going on.

12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Do not jump the gun, these ones nibbling at the event saying what meaneth this, that is too soon. Wait for the mockers. As soon as they make a joke that is the time to set the hook.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

Peter has prepared for this moment and now he lets down the net.

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

Everyone wants to hear about a prophesy being fulfilled.

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Everyone wants to experience God pouring out His Spirit on them.

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Everyone wants to see all these great signs.

Amen! Praise God and let's be fishers of men. Spread the word boldly with God's wisdom within us! Let's invite all souls to the great feaat with our Lord.... The wise will listen. Amen...